Quick reference

BACnet Fundamentals
StruxureWare Building Operation 1.6

What is BACnet?
• A Data Communication Protocol Designed to Enhance Interoperability:
• Building Automation and Control networks, that’s why it is always Capital BAC and
Lower Case net
• It is an International Standard

Before BACnet
• 3 building control devices
• 3 different functionalities and/or manufacturers
• 3 different communications protocols

We have 2 or more perfectly capable systems being unable to talk to one another.
How much wouldn't it be worth if disparate systems were able to communicate with each other...
This is why we need BACnet in the first place.

After BACnet
• 3 building control devices
• 3 different functionalities and/or manufacturers
• 1 common communication protocol
• Multiple types of transport mechanisms

Add in the capability to speak a common protocol – BACnet, and we can now integrate our site.
A system that uses BACnet from the Workstation to the controller is called a Native BACnet
system. Meaning no gateways are involved.

An example of a common language or protocol issue, would be suitable for an international

training course. Delegates from all over the world arrive with their own languages but ordinarily
they all revert to English as a common language. But you will still think in your native language.
This is important, as a BACnet controller will still be programmed with a proprietary
programming tool.

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 BACnet Interoperability
BACnet works by dividing the problem of interoperability into three distinct areas, and by
defining methods and standards for implementing each.
BACnet application language consists of objects and services.
• Objects
o Continuum/TAC Vista and SBO are Object Oriented Systems so this should be
familiar to many of us. Objects are described using properties. Device is the only
mandatory object.
• Services
o BACnet uses these services to push and pull data and to discover new devices.
When we work in the BACnet world, we must make use of these BACnet
Services.
• Transports
o This is the actual medium used to connect one device to another. E.g. MS/TP,
ARCnet, BACnetIP, BACnet over Ethernet…

Objects
• A BACnet object consists of properties
• Each property contains a value of some specified data type
• Every BACnet object contains at minimum the following 3 properties:
o Object Identifier (32-bit) Uniquely identifies a BACnet object within a device
o Object Name (Text) uniquely identifies a BACnet object within a device
o Object Type 50 Standard Object Types (127 Possible) Ashrae 135-2010
• Typical objects include Analog Inputs, Analog Outputs, Binary Inputs, Binary Outputs,
and more complex objects such as Scheduler.
• Messages on the network deal with reading and writing Object Properties.
• The most frequently referenced property for an analog input is “present value”, which
typically means data derived from a sensor or physical device.

BACnet Standard Object types

• BACnet defines a collection of 50 Standard Object Types
(127 Possible):
• These are the objects that have been defined under the BACNet Standard 135-2010.
• There is no requirement to implement all the objects in your controller.
• Be careful as Fire systems usually have the Life Safety objects but these are NOT
supported under the b3 controllers or the AS.
• Always refer to the PICS statement for checking compatibility between BACnet
Controllers!

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 Services
BACnet defines services that convey Data and Requests.
What devices can do to and for each other.

Here are the 4 Services that we will be using during the course.
• Who is
• I am
• ReadProperty
• WriteProperty

Transports
BACnet MS/TP
• MS/TP stands for Master Slave Token Passing. Each device on the link is considered the
“master” when it has the token.
• If it does not have immediate need to use the token, it is required to pass the token along
to the next device. This is the “token passing” part. All devices on the link which do not
currently have the token, are regarded as slaves.
• All Devices are expected to listen to any messages the current master may have for it.
Because all devices take turns being master, the link is effectively peer to peer.

ARCNET, The first Local Area Network

• It was defined as a group of nodes that communicates to one another over a
geographically-limited area, usually within one building or a campus of buildings.
It was the simplest, and least expensive type of local-area network. It used a token-
passing architecture, supported data rates of 2.5 Mbps, and connected up to 255
computers.
• ARCNET’s longevity testifies that it is regarded as one of the most robust industrial
networking technologies available. The use today is mostly in industries where
robustness and reliability are key word.

BACnet IP - BACnet Ethernet

• BACnet IP uses a standard UDP/IP stack to send and receive messages (see definition of
UDP/IP below). For the most part, the same packet that would be found on an MS/TP
link, is encapsulated in a UDP/IP packet and called BACnet IP.
• Devices use IP addresses and Ethernet MAC addresses just like other UDP/IP network
devices. There is no concept of master/slave token passing since Ethernet is automatically
peer to peer in nature. Devices simply transmit to their intended recipient at will, and let
Ethernet deal with packet collisions and retries as needed.

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 BACnet Application Layer
o This is where the real fun takes place. All message processing is handled at the
application layer, including device addressing.
o The IP address will get a BACnet packet through all layers of the UDP/IP stack. Then
the application layer decides what to do with the BACnet message. There is an entire
list of possible message types, but the most frequently used is simply "read present
value property". Another strong contender for "most used" would be the COV
notification (Change of Value).
UDP/IP
o Virtually everyone has heard the term TCP/IP. This is the term often generically
applied to anything Internet or anything using "standard" networking.
o The UDP side of the stack operates in parallel to TCP, and is automatically included
in most implementations of an Ethernet based protocol stack.
o The difference is that TCP is considered a "connection" protocol and all
communication takes place in a session that has overhead to ensure delivery of all
packets. UDP is considered "connectionless", has minimal overhead, and allows the
application to deal with whether the packets were delivered or not.
o UDP is used where network speed and efficiency is important, and BACnet IP uses
the UDP side of the IP stack. It is appropriate to use UDP for BACnet since messages
are typically short and independent of each other.
o TCP is used for FTP file transfer, for example, where communication involves a
lengthy series of long messages.

Media/Languages
• To better understand BACnet then we need to separate the BACnet protocol from the
medium that it is being carried on.
• An easier way to think of it is as the BACnet protocol being a common language, ie
English. And in this example then the Language is constant irrespective to the medium
being used to carry the Language.
• This is how BACnet has been designed, as a language that can be carried by different
media.
• To move between different media we require routers.
Because the language is always the same the data is consistent.

BACnet Device
• A collection of BACnet objects in a controller, e.g. Inputs to controllers, we call it a
device!
• A Device contains a collection of objects that represent functionality
• A typical BACnet device might contain 16 BI and BO objects, 2 or 3 Schedule objects,
etc…)

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 • A Device also contains services, used to convey data

• A Device also supports a certain Transport, The medium for data transfer

PICS and BIBB’s Introduction

• PICS -describes how it is presented
• PICS is short for: Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement.
• The PIC Statement tells you what capabilities have been implemented.

• BIBB’s -describe how it is done.

• The question is: How do you match requirements of a project to the capabilities
of the devices being installed? The Answer - in BACnet - is BIBBS.
• BIBB is short for: BACnet Interoperability Building Block.

BIBB’s

Interoperation Request Temperature

• Let’s consider a common interoperation in BMS. Where we require the value of a
Temperature (a value) from another controller.
• It could be for averaging Room temperatures or a common Outside air sensor.
• The AS will request the temperature from the SE8000, and the SE8000 will respond with
the value of the temperature sensor.
• The operation has two parts. The AS is the Client, requesting information, and the
SE8000 is the Server. Serving up the information.
• So the interoperation has two parts. This interoperation is described by two
complementary BIBBs.
• Data Share Read Property Ask. (The property required from the object Analog Input is its
Value)
• DS-RP-A
• Data Share Read Property Answer. ( The Value of the Analog Input is sent to the
requesting Device)
• DS-RP-B

Interoperation Request Fan Start

• Another common Interoperation is to switch on equipment attached to another Device.

• It could be a common timeschedule for starting plant.
• The AS will request the Fan attached to the SE8000 is turned on.
• The operation has two parts. The AS is the Client, requesting the Fan is turned on, and
the SE8000 is the Server, turning the Fan on and then confirming the operation was
successful back to the AS
• So the interoperation has two parts. This interoperation is described by two
complementary BIBBs.

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 • Data Share Write Property Ask. (The property required to be written to the Analog Value
in its Value)
• DS-WP-A
• Data Share Write Property Answer. ( The Value of the Analog Output is changed and
confirmation of the write is sent to the AS)
• DS-WP-B

BACnet Device Profiles Chart

• Starting at the B-SS (BACnet smart sensor). A BACnet sensor will only have to serve up
the Value of its Analog Input of the temperature.
• So for its profile it only requires to support DS-RP-B. It will never ask another controller
for a value so its NOT required to support DS-RP-A.
• Its NOT required to support trending or alarms. So if you require a high temp alarm you
will have to read the value to another controller that supports alarms.
• The first BACnet profile that Requires to support Alarms is the B-AAC. But the B-AAC
is NOT required to support DS-RP-A. So it could not act to read the temperature Value of
the BACnet Smart Sensor, so you couldn’t read the value to produce an Alarm.
• For the full functionality we require then the B-BC supports DS-RP-A and Alarms, so
this profile would be required.
• HOWEVER, the profiles define the least amount of BBIBs required to comply with the
BACnet standard. Manufacturers can provide more than just the minimum. In which case
we would check the supported BBIBs in the devices PICS. (See next section)

BACnet is scalable, from simple devices to the more complex.

PIC Statements

Basic Identifying Information

• Basic information on the controller model, firmware revision and what edition of the
BACnet standard you are complying with are required.

BACnet profile complied with

• Details of the Device Profile, who’s minimum requirement you meet, is required

The Supported BIBBS

• All the BBIBs that the controller supports are required to be listed.

BACnet Objects supported

• All the BACnet objects that the device supports are required to be listed

Supported Object Properties

• All the properties of the objects that are supported are required to be listed

Supported Networks

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 • The transport mediums that are supported by the device, including speed, are required to
be listed

Proprietary Extensions
• If your device is using proprietary objects and/or properties then these must be declared.

The book of BACnet

• Straight away I can tell you that neither the bCX nor the AS supports BACnet over
ARCnet and the AS Does not support BACnet over Ethernet
But how can this be if we manufacture Certified BACnet Devices?
BACnet is ultimately a Book!
• It is a documented Protocol with many separate Building Blocks that any manufacturer
can choose to support of not.
You need to know what your manufacturer support
• You do not have to do all of BACnet or none of it. When you are trying to connect your
device to someone else's, the trick is checking how much of the BACnet Protocol they do
support. Always make sure that you both support common Objects, Services and
Transports to allow you to communicate.
Make sure that common Objects, Services and Transports are supported
• If you do not support a common Service or Transport etc, then even though you are both
BACnet Devices you will actually not be able to communicate and integrate.
Check what ASHRAE standard is supported
• The main reason for having such an open standard is to allow small business to offer
something within the BACnet protocol without forcing them to subscribe to all it. This
way more companies can get involved and the BACnet standard can grow. If ASHRAE
who wrote the standard had made it an all-or-nothing standard then only a few may
manufacturers could have afforded to invest in all that development and BACnet would
not be the popular entity it is today.
PICS and BIBBS
• To determine how much of the BACnet Standard and device does support you have to
look at the Protocol Implementation Compliance or PIC Statement.
• The PIC Statement contains BACnet Interoperable Building Blocks or BIBBs, which
then clearly shows what any device does or does not support.

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 BTL certification
• To achieve Certification a manufacture sends a device with its PIC statement to a BTL
(BACnet Testing Lab).
They make sure it can do all it claims to be able to do and nothing more. As long as it
satisfies the claims of its PIC statement, then it issued a BTL certificate.
• However, matters are further complicated by the fact that a manufacturer does not have
to get their device certified.
• They can manufacture and market a BACnet device without even creating a PIC
Statement yet alone having it Tested by BTL.
• If you encounter such a device in the field it is anyone's guess whether it will work or not
– a complete gamble!!
rd
• So whenever integrating to unknown 3 Party Devices using BACnet, ask for the devices
PIC Statement, check that the device is BTL certified
• Listings of all BTL certified devices and their PIC Statements can be found at
www.BTLInternational.org

Appendix
What all these letters mean!
• ASHRAE – American society of heating, refrigeration and air conditioning engineers
• BIBBS – BACnet interoperability building blocks
• PICS – Protocol implementation conformance statement
• BACnet – Building automation and control network
• BTL – BACnet testing laboratories
• VPN – Virtual Private network
• MS/TP – Master/Slave Token Passing
• TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol
• ARCnet – Attached Resource Computer Network

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